Linderhof

Gardening, Cooking and Decorating on the Prairie of Kansas

Welcome to Linderhof, our 1920's home on the prairie, where there's usually something in the oven, flowers in the garden for tabletops and herbs in the garden for cooking. Where, when company comes, the teapot is always on and there are cookies and cakes to share in the larder.

Monday, September 24, 2012

THE Chair

Everything at Linderhof has a story -- or almost everything. We remember the place we found our treasures and how much they cost. They're not just pieces of furniture but memories!

The chair -- many memories

Last September we made our first trip to New England. We fell in love with Route 20 in Upstate New York. A scenic drive with enough antique shops to make the drive even more interesting.

And at one shop, there was a chair.

I looked. I sat. I debated. I walked the store some more thinking.

And my "better sense" got a hold of me -- for I had "no place" for the chair.

And so I left it!

When you buy antiques, you often have to make an immediate decision as to whether to purchase an item or not.

For if it is a tag sale or estate sale, it won't be there tomorrow. And antique shops or consignment shops often have a good turnover of merchandise.

Because of that, I've bought things I've regretted. A "why did I buy that!"

But I knew it was because I was caught up in the "now or never" moment.

But because of those "shouldn't ofs", I've left items I should have bought!

That chair was the latter!

Fast forward to 2012. We plan a vacation to Cape Cod. Husband Jim decides to drive. The route . . Why Route 20 in Upstate New York, of course. I insisted.

And we wandered into that same antique shop.

I RAN to the place where I had last seen the chair a year ago.

And there it was!

I love a cane seated chair

Not quite in the same place, but almost and still for sale!

I told the owner that I had been here in September last year and that chair was for sale then. It is now September 2012 and the chair is still for sale. I am interested in the chair but could he give me a better price for it.

He agreed.

The chair was mine -- a year later after I first saw it!

I assume the gold paint is old

It's painted black and has gold painting -- not stenciling on the back

Even a small detail of painted leaves on the front of the seat.

And the front of the seat.

I fell in love with the birds last year . . . it is such an unusual chair.

Besides the gold there are a pair of birds -- fancy birds!

A year's wait but the chair is perfect in the Master Bedroom

It looks good in the place that I knew would be perfect for it. The Master Bedroom. It would have looked good there in September 2011! But I couldn't figure that out then! Only after I had been home for a while did I realize that I truly did have a place for the chair!

Sigh!

I'm grateful that I had a second chance -- with antiques that doesn't happen very often!

17 comments:

Beautiful chair! Love the painting. We own 2 much simpler cane-seated chairs that I have put away because I'm afraid for anyone to sit on them heavier than me (125lbs). We live not too far north of Route 20 in a suburb of Rochester NY.

I passed up four chairs in Colorado one time thinking that they would be perfect for the drop leaf table I intended to buy as soon as I found one. I found the table. The next year we took another trip to Colorado and made a point to go to the same antique store...the chairs were gone. sniff

What a sweet chair Martha the painting on it is beautiful, glad it was still there for you :o) I wasn't so lucky last week, much the same story with a side table (where to place it?) I decided upon the perfect place overnight but when I went back it was gone...Best wishesRose H

Firstly, it was buried by ALL the other stuff we had in the car!!! I wanted it in the back seat where we could whisk it out and show it off but alas, Jim INSISTED that it would ride better in the very back of the trunk.